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The word "herd immunity" is used by the media with a very specific meaning. It is meant to refer to an unethical practice of taking insufficient action and just

The word "herd immunity" is used by the media with a very specific meaning. It is meant to refer to an unethical practice of taking insufficient action and just letting people die. As many pointed out on HN, the media does not understand that vaccination is also herd immunity. At any rate, with the commonly used meaning of "herd immunity", this is not what Sweden does.

lazyasciiart 6y ago
No, it is not. The media in my experience has been quite clear that it may or may not involve vaccination, and that Sweden has been attempting to achieve it without vaccination. And the actual private statements of those managing it also talk about achieving widespread immunity through natural infection, not vaccination Eg, Newsweek: ' "herd immunity," which is when up to 70 percent of the population have either been given a vaccination or been infected, impacting the rate of the virus spread.' Giesecke to Tegnell: "it will all come to an end when so many have been infected and become therefore immune that the virus has nowhere else to go (so-called herd immunity)," Tegnell to Giesecke: "as immunity rises in the population, the rate of spread of the disease decreases, ....Is there a way of modelling how the spread comes to a halt?" https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-emails-anders-tegnell-johan-giesecke-herd-immunity-coronavirus-1524847 https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-emails-anders-tegnell-johan-...
- eesmith 6y ago
  From the linked-to Nature article: > Earlier in the pandemic, media reports claimed that Sweden was pursuing a herd immunity strategy by essentially letting people live their lives as normal, but that idea is a “misunderstanding”, according to the country’s minister for health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren. Herd immunity “is a potential consequence of how the spread of the virus develops, in Sweden or in any other country”, she told Nature in a written statement, but it is “not a part of our strategy”. Sweden’s approach, she said, uses similar tools to most other countries: “Promoting social distancing, protecting vulnerable people, carrying out testing and contact tracing, and reinforcing our health system to cope with the pandemic.”
- belltaco 6y ago
  Not true, they closed down movie theaters etc. and citizens were supposed to be self responsible for not spreading it. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/03/what-sweden-can-teach-us-about-coronavirus-348462 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/03/what-swede...
  - lazyasciiart 6y ago
    Could you clarify which of my statements you are calling "not true"?

lazyasciiart 6y ago

No, it is not. The media in my experience has been quite clear that it may or may not involve vaccination, and that Sweden has been attempting to achieve it without vaccination. And the actual private statements of those managing it also talk about achieving widespread immunity through natural infection, not vaccination Eg, Newsweek: ' "herd immunity," which is when up to 70 percent of the population have either been given a vaccination or been infected, impacting the rate of the virus spread.' Giesecke to Tegnell: "it will all come to an end when so many have been infected and become therefore immune that the virus has nowhere else to go (so-called herd immunity)," Tegnell to Giesecke: "as immunity rises in the population, the rate of spread of the disease decreases, ....Is there a way of modelling how the spread comes to a halt?" https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-emails-anders-tegnell-johan-giesecke-herd-immunity-coronavirus-1524847 https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-emails-anders-tegnell-johan-...

eesmith 6y ago
From the linked-to Nature article: > Earlier in the pandemic, media reports claimed that Sweden was pursuing a herd immunity strategy by essentially letting people live their lives as normal, but that idea is a “misunderstanding”, according to the country’s minister for health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren. Herd immunity “is a potential consequence of how the spread of the virus develops, in Sweden or in any other country”, she told Nature in a written statement, but it is “not a part of our strategy”. Sweden’s approach, she said, uses similar tools to most other countries: “Promoting social distancing, protecting vulnerable people, carrying out testing and contact tracing, and reinforcing our health system to cope with the pandemic.”
belltaco 6y ago
Not true, they closed down movie theaters etc. and citizens were supposed to be self responsible for not spreading it. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/03/what-sweden-can-teach-us-about-coronavirus-348462 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/03/what-swede...
- lazyasciiart 6y ago
  Could you clarify which of my statements you are calling "not true"?